{"id":46,"date":"2026-05-06T14:25:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T14:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/?page_id=46"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:38:39","slug":"writing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/?page_id=46","title":{"rendered":"Cat Woman in Dog Country"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to life on a semi-urban mini-farm in the northern-half of the American South<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re still reading, something about all this hyphenation must appeal to you, the middle-of-it-all-ness and everything-is-connectedness that characterizes so much environmental writing. My book, Cat Woman in Dog Country<\/em>, forthcoming with University of Alabama Press March 2027, chronicles four seasons of life on this very tiny mini-farm in fifty-two short chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat Woman in Dog Country<\/em> is as much a literary how-not-to grow things as a guide to the symbiotic wonders of figs and wasps and chicken politics. It\u2019s the story of learning the differences between teaching Walden<\/em> and growing my own beans, among other things, with my son, half a dozen chickens, and a truly terrifying number of rats and copperheads. Along the way I consider the immediate, material problems of living with forever chemicals, rising temperatures, cycles of flood and drought, and their relation to existential questions of place: the personal, social, and planetary problem of the meaning of home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll learn about how figs go from here…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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…to here, covering your entire kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then your entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s what nice people, people I haven’t paid and to whom I’m not related, are saying about the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith an enchanting mix of wit, literary sensibility and attention to the profound, Cat Woman in Dog Country<\/em> chronicles the joys and tribulations of building a life at the rural edge of suburbia. Whether she’s clambering up trees to pick figs, tending a flock of characterful hens, or dealing with a temperamental septic tank, Feder has a gift for making each moment resonate with meaning and laughter. This book is a welcome tonic for our times.\u201d \u2014James Barilla, author of Naturebot: Unconventional Visions of Nature<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a very funny book, and quite true also.\u201d \u2014Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you enjoy a good laugh, or find yourself overcome with an impulse to help a total stranger buy a new septic tank, consider purchasing this very reasonably priced book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the book is for sale in March 2027, a button will magically appear here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to life on a semi-urban mini-farm in the northern-half of the American South If you\u2019re still reading, something about all this hyphenation must appeal to you, the middle-of-it-all-ness and everything-is-connectedness that characterizes so much environmental writing. My book, Cat Woman in Dog Country, forthcoming with University of Alabama Press March 2027, chronicles four seasons…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-46","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafeder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}